380 LARIDA 
secured, chiefly from the south and east of England, and 
nearly always in spring and summer. ‘he Gull-billed Tern 
has been recorded from the following counties :—Norfolk,! 
Kent, Sussex, Hants, Devon, Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles, 
while a few birds travelling further north, have been taken 
in Yorkshire and in Lancashire. 
As yet this species has not been substantially recorded 
from either Scotland or Ireland. The bird mentioned in the 
‘Zoologist’ for 1887 (p. 433), as a Gull-billed Tern (Sterna 
anglica) shot in Belfast Lough, was afterwards examined 
by Mr. Howard Saunders, and proved to be an immature 
male Arctic Tern. 
Flight.—The “ flight 1s graceful but not very rapid, the 
long wings being plied with steady, measured strokes ”’ 
(Saunders). 
Food.—This species takes its food by pursuing insects on 
the wing, pouncing on beetles and grasshoppers, while in 
the vicinity of water it picks up small fish, shrimps, and 
crabs. 
Votce.—The breeding-note resembles the syllables che-ah; 
the ordinary cry of alarm sounds like af-af-af (Saunders). 
Nest.—The nest is usually scraped out in sandy soil, and 
is but a shallow hollow, lined with bits of dry seaweeds and 
grasses. The eggs, three of which constitute the clutch, 
vary in ground-colour from buff to greenish, and are 
blotched with different shades of brown. 
Geographical distribution.—The Gull-billed Tern breeds 
in many countries of Southern Europe, from Spain east- 
ward to the Black Sea, also in Denmark. It nests over 
a wide area in Temperate Asia, North Africa, North and 
Central America, including the West Indies. On migration 
in autumn it wanders to the southern limits of Asia and 
America, in the latter country to lat. 48° 8. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Top of head and back 
of neck, jet-black; back, scapulars, and wings, ‘ pearl’ grey ; 
' In the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1901, p. 105, Mr. Patterson, writing on the 
‘Birds of Great Yarmouth,’ states, that of ten examples of Gull-billed 
Terns recorded from Norfolk, nine were obtained on Breydon, the 
earliest of which was captured on April 14th, 1849, the most recent on 
September 5th, 1896. 
